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'''Direct navigation''' describes the method individuals use to navigate the [[World Wide Web]] in order to arrive at specific [[website]]s. Direct navigation is a 10-year-old term which is generally understood to include [[type-in traffic]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.cadna.org/en/issues/cadna-analysis/direct-navigation |title=Direct Navigation: How It Affects Trademarked Brands | CADNA - Coalition Against Domain Name Abuse |access-date=2013-04-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130529183226/http://www.cadna.org/en/issues/cadna-analysis/direct-navigation |archive-date=2013-05-29 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Direct navigation traffic was first discovered circa 1996. The few lucky [[domainer]]s who had premium names and analyzed their traffic found people were typing in their domain names and bypassing [[search engines]]. Many of them immediately realized the potential of these domain names. At that time the direct navigation segment of the [[World Wide Web]] was born.

Domainers describe direct navigation as an [[Internet]] user navigating to a website directly through the browser [[address bar]]. They bypass online [[search engines]] by typing a name like "hotels" and adding ".com". For that reason, direct navigation traffic is more valuable than search engine traffic since it is better targeted. Short words that describe large segments of a market are the most valuable direct navigation names. Domainers call these names premium names and they have sold in the millions of dollars year after year since 1997.

Marketers also include bookmarked traffic in the direct navigation group. Domainers do not consider bookmarked traffic as direct navigation since in most cases they do not involve a direct navigation premium domain name. A [[Bookmark (web)|bookmark]] is made when an internet user actively adds a [[URL]] to their list of bookmarked pages. This is very different from using the browser address line to navigate to a premium domain name like hotels.com. Hence the inclusion of bookmarked traffic is not included in the domainer's version of the direct navigation market.

A 2005 study of Internet traffic by WebSideStory's StatMarket division revealed that direct navigation traffic such as browser [[type-in traffic]], bookmarks of existing sites, and visits to existing, known [[website]] domain names converts into sales for advertisers at 4.23% of total visits compared to 2.3% for product and service related searches performed via the search box at search engines such as [[Google]] and [[Yahoo!|Yahoo]].

In September 2008, the first direct navigation search engine, ubexact.com was released. In addition to providing results by type in traffic, the search engine utilized new proprietary technology that was able to provide ''in context'' search results from one URL to the next URL.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20130804161017/http://www.reuters.com/article/2008/09/03/idUS94003+03-Sep-2008+PRN20080903 Reuters]</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/ubexact-develops-new-user-centric-search-engine-address-irrelevant-disorganized-content-888967.htm|title=Press Release Distribution}}</ref>

Direct Navigation has a tangible working relationship with indexes. Indexes are how users navigate content on websites. In a 2012 study by Tao Yang et al, working in combination with indexes created a bookmark for looking in an index instead of “going back to the (index) list”. Direct Navigation and Indexes facilitate better outcomes for discovering favorable information.<ref>{{Citation | vauthors=((Yang, T.)), ((Ferati, M.)), ((He, L.)), ((Bolchini, D.)) | year=2012 | title=Navigating by index and guided tour for fact finding | publisher=ACM | url=https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/2379057.2379093 | access-date=5 December 2024}}</ref>

Another input area found to benefit from direct navigation is selective exposure. Selective exposure relates to the type of internet content users seek to engage with that aligns with their beliefs or attitudes while avoiding what does not. A 2019 study by Carden, A.S., et al found that “direct navigation increases selective exposure by about 3 percent compared to Google and Facebook”.
<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors=((Cardenal, A. S.)), ((Aguilar-Paredes, C.)), ((Galais, C.)), ((Pérez-Montoro, M.)) | journal=The International Journal of Press/Politics | title=Digital Technologies and Selective Exposure: How Choice and Filter Bubbles Shape News Media Exposure | volume=24 | issue=4 | pages=465–486 | publisher=SAGE Publications Inc | date=1 October 2019 | url=https://doi.org/10.1177/1940161219862988 | issn=1940-1612 | doi=10.1177/1940161219862988 | access-date=27 October 2024| hdl=2445/149060 | hdl-access=free }}</ref>

Another 2022 research article by Wojcieszak, M., et al explored which search method would yield better results in users engaging in differing types of news content. They compared how its users accessed news and how they were exposed to diverse news content. Amongst those compared direct navigation was more effective by 50 percent.
<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors=((Wojcieszak, M.)), ((Menchen-Trevino, E.)), ((Goncalves, J. F. F.)), ((Weeks, B.)) | journal=The International Journal of Press/Politics | title=Avenues to News and Diverse News Exposure Online: Comparing Direct Navigation, Social Media, News Aggregators, Search Queries, and Article Hyperlinks | volume=27 | issue=4 | pages=860–886 | publisher=SAGE Publications Inc | date=1 October 2022 | url=https://doi.org/10.1177/19401612211009160 | issn=1940-1612 | doi=10.1177/19401612211009160 | access-date=4 December 2024| url-access=subscription }}</ref>

Direct Navigation remains integral to web searching. Direct Navigation continues to supersede all other avenues of accessing content. A 2014 study by Budak, C., et al states “The majority of retail sessions are not initiated by advertising but rather by Direct Navigation (35%) and organic web search (29%) both of which are initiated independently by the user”. The research aimed to determine the need for advertising and tracking consumers' internet use. This study demonstrates the suitable method of accessing content is through direct navigation. This further validates this method of navigating the web and its efficiency.
<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors=((Budak, C.)), ((Goel, S.)), ((Rao, J. M.)), ((Zervas, G.)) | journal=SSRN Electronic Journal | title=Do-Not-Track and the Economics of Third-Party Advertising | date= 2014 | url=http://www.ssrn.com/abstract=2505643 | issn=1556-5068 | doi=10.2139/ssrn.2505643 | access-date=5 December 2024| url-access=subscription }}</ref>

==References==
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[[Category:Online advertising]]

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Direct navigation - Revision history

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